Halloween Favourites from The DHR Team - Part I
We asked our team to share some of their favourite things about Halloween and the spooky season, so if you’re looking for what to dig into this year, check out their answers below! And don’t forget to return tomorrow for Part 2
Part I
Favourite Halloween Book
Dee
Goosebumps #11The Haunted Mask. I don't care if it is a children's book, it captures all the best Halloween vibes for me.
Jason
Pork Pie Hat by Peter Straub
Dai
Okay I know this is a really obvious answer, but it’s got to be Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. It’s creepy as hell and perfectly captures that transitional feeling of both coming-of-age and the changing of the seasons. It’s getting dark and cold and the carnival is coming to town.
Madison
The Mud Ballad - Jo Quenell (Weirdpunk Books)
A sideshow performer is exiled to a ghost town after murdering his conjoined twin; his quest to relieve his loneliness involves grave robbery, child-devouring hogs, and black magic. Grotesque and gory, The Mud Ballad reads like something Bradbury might have written if he was in a particularly grim mood. Mixing old-school occult horror with bizarro and exploitation influences - with a strong undercurrent of autumnal melancholy - it’s the perfect Halloween read.
Kayla
Favourite stories: "For Love of Him" by Vivian Vande Velde, "In the Cave of the Delicate Singers" by Lucy Taylor, "Especially Heinous" by Carmen Maria Machado, and "Harold" by Alvin Schwartz
Cat
My favorite book to get me in the Halloween mood is probably THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE, by Shirley Jackson. It's one I re-read frequently, if not every year, and it always gets me feeling spooky. If we're talking about books that are STRICTLY Halloween themes, I just read THE LAST HAUNT by Max Booth III. And if I'm allowed to do a little borderline self-promotion, I have been making my way through my contributor copy of OCTOBER SCREAMS: A HALLOWEEN ANTHOLOGY by Kangas Kahn publishing, which is probably one of the most Halloween-y books I have ever read.
Elle
The Ex Hex. It’s paranormal romance, not horror, but it’s got that lovely, small town ‘light spooky’ vibe I adore around this time of the year.
Favourite Halloween Film
Dee
I usually always rewatch Sleepy Hollow, Ginger Snaps, & Hell House LLC in the lead up to Halloween. Watching horror year round means I usually go for films with "fall vibes" in October.
Jason
Trick R Treat is a tough one to beat. (accidental rhyming hehe)
Dai
This is really tricky to answer, partly because there’s so much choice and partly because I watch horror all year round. I suppose this time of year I associate more with ghost stories (thinning of the veil and all that), so I might have to go for The Orphanage or Shutter (Thai version). I’m also going to cheat and suggest Over the Garden Wall, which may be a series but it is extremely bingeable and has the perfect Halloween atmosphere.
Madison
Don Coscarelli’s Phantasm is a dreamlike sci-fi slasher set against a backdrop of spooky graveyards, imposing morgues, and the surface of Mars. As a mortician intent on enslaving earth’s dead, Angus Scrimm gives a bizarro take on the classic horror villain; Coscarelli’s heroes, two brothers and their sleazy ice cream man friend, are equally offbeat. Genre-hopping and surreal, Phantasm feels like several horror movies in one, with a sublimely sinister synth soundtrack.
Kayla
Trick 'r Treat, Hocus Pocus, and Thir13en Ghosts
Cat
I'm sorry, I can't narrow it down. I personally watch John Carpenter's Halloween and the 2018 follow up every year on the actual day, but there are so many good Halloween movies. Trick 'R Treat. Haunt. House of 1,000 Corpses. Terrifier. I think it really depends on if you want a cozy Halloween vibe or something gross.
Elle
Hocus Pocus and Halloweentown
Favourite Halloween Game (video, bored, party...)
Dee
Karaoke in costumes! It was too fun singing Space Oddity as Velma from Scooby-Doo and a duet with a random dude dressed as Rick Sanchez.
Murder Mystery parties
Mafia/ Werewolf with a deck of playing cards
Dai
the party game Murder in the Dark. For those who haven’t played, it’s essentially hide-and-seek with a twist. You designate one player the murderer and everyone else has to go and hide, except you have to have all the lights switched off and curtains drawn, and you’d ideally be playing when it’s already dark outside. I have many fond memories of hiding under a table in the pitch black trying to stifle giggles as the “murderer” entered the room.
Madison
Scavenger Hunt (great opportunity to check out the neighbourhood decorations)
Kayla
Clue, Quiplash, and One Night Ultimate Werewolf
Cat
Spooky's Jump Scare Mansion, hands down.
Elle
Murder in the Dark was always great fun. Especially if the person ‘murdered’ really nailed that scream. And got to love some Bobbing for Apples, too. Most importantly though, the best board game in the world - Atmosfear.
